Goslings Go West - Monterey Bay, Whale watching,

One of the things with holidaying on the west coast is the abundance of wildlife.  Yes, the cities are very densely populated, but you get 30 miles out of a city, and there is very little there.  We couldn't get over how green everything was.  It is well known that there are many whale migrations up and down the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.  We had to see whales.

We drove from the house in Aptos to Monterey Bay.  The countryside was absolutely stunning.  Americas fruit basket, with fields as far as the eye can see.  We arrived in Monterey with plenty of time to spare, so had a little drive around.  You could see sea lions from the road.  They were lazing around on rocks.  The houses are very higgledy piggledy, but beautiful all the same.  Some very nice looking guest houses. 

We parked up, not too far from Fishermans Wharf.  A restroom stop was needed, and I came out to find the boys watching the sea lions.  

This was another trip we booked in advance.  Goos job too, as they were fully booked for a few days.  We went with Monterey Bay Whale Watch, the company the BBC used when they were filming their 'Big Blue' series a couple of years ago.  Their website is really good.  You are able to go on and see records of what they have seen in the years previous.  They also have a very good Facebook page, which we have been following since the New Year.  This helped give us an idea as to what we might see. 

As we headed out of harbor, first ting we saw (and smelled) was the sea lions around the harbor wall.  

It didn't take long for us see our first whale.  It was a humpback, you can know this by their blow pattern (apparently!!!).  

All in, we saw 12 humpback whales, one fin whale and 2 different types of dolphins.  This was an awesome experience, with the boys getting really in to it too.  They were so happy when they started seeing the whales.  

At one point, there were five whales, all in different directions around the boat. Amazing.  A little bit gutted we didn't see any killer whales, but the humpbacks were amazing.

Back on dry land, another rest room stop. This time, the boys were loving the sea otter! 

After a quick lunch, we jumped in the car.  Paul and I wanted to drive some of State Highway 1, another bucket list thing.  We headed in the direction of Big Sur, south of Monterey. We knew we weren't gong to get all the way there, but we had a destination in mind. Bixby Creek Bridge originally opened in 1932.  Prior to that, residents of Big Sur were effectively cut off in winter.  This is one of the most photographed bridges on the West Coast

We turned around at the bridge.  One day, when I am old and grey, I want to drive State Highway 1 from San Francisco to Baja California.  One day.......

Next stop on our magical mystery tour: Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway.  Cos I am married to a racing fanatic, and have 3 boys.  

The raceway is run by Monterey Country Parks.  You have to pay a small fee ($8) to enter, but then you are free to explore.  When we were there, the BMW motorbike school was just finishing up their day.  We had a little walk around the pit area, had a look in the gift shop and generally took in an empty track.  

We then drove up to the famous cork screw, before driving back to Aptos.  This was such an awesome day.  We hit so many bucket list things.  So glad we made it West.  

Goslings Go West - San Francisco

On the tuesday we awoke early.  This was our day to go to San Francisco! I had booked our tickets to for the boat to go to Alcatraz as soon as they became available.  They recommend you book in advance, and take bookings 3 months in advance (when we were there, there were no available tickets till 3 days later!).  We were booked on the 9.10am boat.  We left the house with plenty of time to spare. 90 minutes to do a 40 minute journey.

Alas, traffic was completely against us.  rush hour traffic, a big west coast city.  Not a good combination.  We made it to the dock for 9.15, but still had to park the car.  By the time we had done that, and faffed around,  it was 9.45 when we got to the ticket desk.  Paul went and asked what we could do.  Luckily they had a system, where our tickets were changed to standby tickets.  We had a rest room stop, and went to the standby waiting area.  Luckily we were first in the queue and managed to get on the 10am boat.  Phew! 

It was a pleasant enough boat ride.  Kids were good, not too busy. Approaching the dock was pretty special.  You get off the boat, and go and listen to a brief talk my a member of the National Park Service. Most people at least know  a brief history of Alcatraz.  This is in part thanks to a film, 'The Rock'.

We headed to the top of the island, to the Cell Block.  This area has an award winning audio tour.  We all took head sets.  Within minutes, Sebastian had given up.  Oliver and Isaac followed the tour really well.  Isaac got a little bored when we went outside, but he soon caught up.

An audio tour is not something we would usually do, but the kids are getting older and these kind go things are more possible.  There was only one little bit near the end where Isaac nearly freaked out, and Oliver looked a little worried, but overall it was suitable for them.  Given my boys curiosities, I am surprised we have not had more questions regarding some of the topics raised.  May be they will come soon.....

We toured a little bit more of the island.  By about midday, everyone had had enough.  We headed back to the boat, back to the main land.  I would highly recommend Alcatraz as a visitors attraction.  But make sure you book, and try to go when it is not too busy. 

Once back on the mainland we walked from Pier 33 round to Pier 39.  This is one of the really touristy bits of San Francisco.  It is where the sea lions are!!!! You have to walk all the way to the end of the pier to see them 

But its ok, you will SMELL them first!!!! My kids loved this, as to be expected.  This pier was busy.  It was heading to the end of lunch.  We had not eaten, so we found somewhere.  It wasn't great, but we were hungry by then! We did a little bit of souvenir shopping before heading to see the sea lions again.  Sebastian in particular loved them. Then back to the car. 

We all wanted to go to Lombard Street. In particular, the section between Hyde and Leavenworth Street, where there are 8 switch backs down a steep incline.  The street was originally built in 1922.  It rocked! 

From there, it had to be the Golden Gate Bridge. We were initially going to drive it, but rush hour, traffic and tolls made us rethink our decision. Instead we chose to come off the highway aand head to the visitors centre.  We ended up parking in a new car park, the other side of the highway from the visitor centre, and walking along a bike trail under the bridge. Cool!

There are a few little bits and pieces to do here, a cafe, a gift shop etc.  We read a lot of the history and info boards there.  very interesting.  I think if we had had more time, looked into it in more detail and not had (3 very tired by now) boys with us, we may have explored the other side of the bridge.  But time was short, this was still a holiday after all! too much rushing around makes Goslings go crazy!!!! 

We jumped in the car and headed back to Aptos.  I loved San Francisco.  I really would like to go back, sans kids, and explore more of the culture there.  It is a stunning city.